Garden Calendar – 101

By Lewis W. Jett, WW Extension Specialist – Commercial Horticulture

For decades, WVU Extension Service has produced the garden calendar, in one form or another, as a service to West Virginia’s many home gardeners and agricultural producers. The calendar, a valuable resource, guides gardening activities throughout the year.

Scheduling

Many use the calendar as a planning tool to schedule planting of popular garden crops, in order to provide an abundant supply of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs for the entire year. Planting many vegetables 3 to 4 weeks apart throughout the season will yield a consistent supply of fresh produce.

Early cool-season crops, such as lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, kale, onions, and celery, can be grown as transplants. When the calendar notes seed indoors, it refers to sowing seed for transplants in a sunny room or greenhouse. Planting containers can be used to grow transplants; note that supplemental lighting or bottom heating may be needed to get uniform germination and growth. Once the plants are large enough and the growing environment is favorable, the transplants can be moved to an outdoor garden.

Some vegetables, such as lettuce, beets, onions, or carrots, can be seeded directly in a cold frame. Recommended seeding dates are noted in the calendar.

Management

The garden calendar includes garden management practices, such as soil testing, pruning, mulching, pest management, and fertilization. Pruning of fruit trees and small fruit plants should be done in late February to early March. Mulching can be done throughout the year on most crops; however, mulch should be removed from strawberries and perennial vegetable plants in early spring.

The garden calendar also notes when to start watching for emerging pest issues, including blights and insects.

Tools and Techniques

The garden calendar often introduces new tools and techniques, such as low and high tunnels, row covers, and grafting. Both low and high tunnels significantly extend the growing season in West Virginia. Row covers are lightweight and are used to protect growing crops from frost, freezing, and insects. The garden calendar shows when to plant crops within tunnels and when to place row covers on crops.